Ideas & Insights

As we're counting down to 2017 and the year is coming to a close, you may begin to start thinking about charitable giving. Whether the holiday season is inspiring you to pause or you're thinking of year end planning, it's helpful to know some basic charitable giving information before the year-end tax deadlines.

So, we've made it through Thanksgiving... now onto the rest of the holiday season! The holiday music is beginning and we start to see lights on our neighbors houses. While the fun begins to build, it can also be a financially stressful time. Americans plan to spend an average of $935 on holiday gifts this year, according to theNational Retail Federation... $140 gets spent on themselves as well while shopping, bringing the whopping total to $1,075. Ouch! If you're starting to feel the stress creep in, here are three helpful spending tips for the holiday season.

The open Medicare enrollment period begins on October 15th. This is the time to review your medicare coverage and see if you need to make any adjustments. Open enrollment runs through December 7th and any changes made are effective as of January 1, 2017. You can do the following during open enrollment:

Every other week you watch funds come into you account... It's payday, hooray! So, when was the last time you took a few minutes to check out the summary of information on your paycheck? Do you know what all of those letters mean? Once you know what all the abbreviations stand for, you can make sure your various elections are correct. Check it out:

Ah, summer is almost over! Did that fly by or what? As school is back in session, kids are off to college, and the (dare I say it?) leaves begin to change, Labor Day weekend is our last opportunity to take in the summer time. Hopefully, you get to celebrate a long weekend with family, friends and a cook out. Another tradition around the Labor Day holiday is the DEALS. As financial advisors, it's no surprise we love a good deal.US News & World Reportreleased information about how to get the best bang for your buck this weekend. Here are the main take-a-ways:

Every four years, the world watches as the best global athletes take the stage. We come together with our respective countries, put politics aside (briefly) and watch the best of the best compete. It's an exciting time and captivates the world. With such an important event, you can expect there to be some heavy spending involved. Just how much? Well, we have the numbers based on the University of Oxford Report:

It's Spring... Summer is almost here and Mother's Day is right around the corner. Fun! While you may be trying to figure out that perfect gift for mom, the rest of the country is, apparently, doing the same. According tostatisticbrain.com,there are 85 million moms in the U.S.

Who doesn't love a little celebration and/or Guinness on St. Patrick's Day? It's a fun time of year when spring is right around the corner and most are feeling celebratory. We made it through the winter, hooray! With that in mind, here are a few fun facts in regards to the Irish-centric day: